The acting was just quality. Some of those scenes needed strong chemistry, and not just romantic chemistry but general relationships between all the main cast. There is a level of trust and understanding that is needed for the most intimate scenes. So bravo to everyone involved in directing those moments and to the casting team for taking the time to find the right people to work together.

Jennifer Lawrence was great in her role. Now what I’m about to say is not a comment on her. She’s a major talent and did a fine job. But man do I wish there were a couple more options for emotionally stunted BAs besides her and one or two others. Because while I enjoyed her immensely I couldn’t help but think, yep, another J-Law role. And while she acted the hell out of the role I never lost sight of the fact that it was her. So while she did a great job with the role I can’t help but wish I hadn’t spent the entire movie watching her do a very in the box role.

The writing was smart. They didn’t get lazy on the plot. I didn’t catch the twist until it was in motion but it worked. Which means they did their work building it up without throwing up big signs pointing to how smart they were being. Some movies give you flashback montages to show you how it was there the whole time even if they didn’t show you half of the stuff in the flashbacks because it would have ruined the twist. Some movies just spell out the twist and hope the movie is still enjoyable enough. This movie walked the line and got it right.

The last thing that made this movie for me was the motivation and resolution they had for the plot. What could have been a love story about a woman giving up her choices and beliefs for a man was much deeper and so the ending was much easier to justify to me. The did a good job thinking through her ties to each person and how her actions affected each of them.

Verdict: 5/5 Not for mixed company at all but a fresh flick worth catching. It was intelligent feeling without being an effort to watch. A creative take on sexy, female spy that didn’t leave me feeling dirty.